Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/12/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Holiday Greetings! The grinch who stole Christmas - and possibly our Leicas - may reside in Washington. This morning, the newspaper reported that the Clinton administration may invoke Section 301 of the U.S. trade law due to a dispute over banana imports. The threatened punitive action would impose 100% tariffs on hundreds of millions of dollars in European imports. Simply put, the price would double. If imposed, the sanctions will be implemented by either Feb 2 or March 3. It is not known if this will affect our beloved Leicas. I suspect that the Clinton administration is attempting to strong arm Europe with the threat. If the sanctions were adopted, the EU would file a case before the World Trade Organization challenging the validity of Section 301. I doubt the U.S. would ever impose such a drastic tariff on European goods. It would touch off a major trade war. Perhaps American Luggers can use this as an excuse with their significant other to acquire that new lens or body sooner rather than later. Christmas is on Friday after all. Bill Christensen